lijti’oi’iMation  loi'  tUo  l’cojjie. 


'  i  I*rtS«S, 


%*Jjo1  OUR  CURRENCY:  fff 

ITS  VOLUME  AND  CHARACTER. 


The  question  of  Currency  is  not  necessa¬ 
rily  a  complicated  one;  nor  should  it  be  dif¬ 
ficult  to  comprehend  and  apply,  in  its  bear¬ 
ings  upon  the  business  and  industrial  inter¬ 
ests  of  society.  Yet  the  public  mind  is  di¬ 
vided  upon  the  subject,  and  it  is  made  a 
prominent  issue  in  some  of  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  election  campaigns. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  it  is  the  purpose  of 
the  writer  to  present  a  few  brief  statistics 
and  statements  which  will  enable  every  in¬ 
telligent  reader  to  arrive  at  a  correct  conclu¬ 
sion  on  the  subject. 

THE  VOLUME  OF  CURRENCY. 

1.  Is  the  Currency  of  the  country  adequate  in 
amount  to  the  legitimate  business  demand 1 

A  hurricane  or  tornado  among  the  elements 
of  nature  can  never  occur  without  adequate 
cause.  So  in  financial  circles  a  money  strin¬ 
gency  of  a  panic  is  precipitated,  and  controlled 
by  causes  as  unerring  in  their  results  as  the 
laws  that  govern  a  sun-set,  or  an  eclipse. 

The  country  has  suffered  during  the  last 
twenty-four  months,  and  is  still  suffering, 
though  less  severely,  from  the  effects  of  a  fi¬ 
nancial  crisis,  which  has  been  attributed  by  a 
certain  class  of  thinkers,  or  rather  of  thought¬ 
less  individuals — to  an  insufficiency  of  cur¬ 
rency.  Can  this  position  be  logically  sus- 
t:  lined  ?  Let  us  look  at  the  facts  ;  and  to  do 
so,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  a  little  into  his¬ 
torical  figures.  Before  the  war  there  was 
little  or  no  complaint  of  a  scarcity  of  curren¬ 
cy  ;  yet  the  amount  of  money,  paper  and 
specie,  in  circulation  in  1S74  was  double 
what  it  was  in  1859.  Here  is  the  aggre¬ 
gate  circulation  for  each  period  indicated: 

1874.  Circulation, . .  $934,538,000 

1859.  Circulation,  . . .  468,30(5,000 


Increase, .  . h... $463,232,000 

Instead  of  contraction,  here  is  an  actual  in¬ 
crease  of  currency  amounting  to  within  a 
fraction  of  one  hundred  per  cent,  in  fifteen 
years.  There  has,  of  course,  been  an  increase 
of  population  during  the  same  period,  but  the 
ratio  of  increase  in  population  is  less  than 
half  that  of  the  increase  in  circulation.  The 
amount  of  money  per  capita  in  use,  at  diff¬ 
erent  periods,  is  seen  in  the  following  state¬ 
ment  : 


Year  Specie.  1  Paper. 


1S34 

1859 

1874 


Total. 


.$■241, 000, 000  $204 . 669 , 000  .$4  4  5, 689 , 00C  2(5 . 433  000  16  80 


275, 000. 000  193. 305. 000  468, 300, 00. > 


Popula¬ 

tion. 


Pel- 

Cap¬ 

ita. 


30.596,000 


167.000.000  777.533.000  944  538  00043. 000,  000 


15.30 

21.96 


Here  it  is  shown  that  while  the  circula¬ 

tion,  per  capita,  was  16.80  in  1854,  and 
only  15.30  in  1859,  it  went  up  to  21.96  in 
1874,  from  which  there  is  little  or  no  varia¬ 
tion  to-day — demonstrating  the  fact  of  a 
larger  circulation  now,  by  about  25  per  cent., 
than  at  the  previous  date  indicated,  or  in 
fact  at  any  former  period  in  our  history. 


:  The  following  tables  will  enforce  the  truth 
!  of  these  statements  : 

Circulation  of  Paper  Currency ,  1854  to  1875. 


Year. 


1851  .. 
1S55  .. 
1856  . . 

1557  . . 

1558  . . 

1559  . . 
1860  .. 
1861  .. 
1862.. 

1863  .. 

1864  .. 
1S65  . . 
1866  .. 
1867  .. 
1S3S  .. 

1869  . . 

1870  . . 

1871  .. 

1872  .. 

1873  .. 

1874  . . 

1875  .. 


Bank 

Notes. 


204,689,000 
156,952, 000 
195, 747,090 
214,778,000 
155,20S,000 
193,306,000 
207,102. 009 
202,  205.  000 
183,794, 000 
25,000,  000 
45,  000,  030 
171,000,000 
280, 000,  000 
293,009,009 
295,000,000 
293,000,  000 
291,600.  090 
315, 000,000 
333,09:0, 000 
340, 000,000 
349. 000,000 
351,869, 008 


Legal  Ten¬ 
ders  . 


Fractional  Total 


149  000, 000 
254,970,  009 
434,173,000 
432, 6S7, 000 
400,  961,000 
371,783, 000 
356,000,000 
356,000,000 
356,000,000 
356,000,000 
357  ,'500, 000 
356,000, 000 
382, 009,  000 
375,  841,  (‘>87 


204. 6S9, 009 
186,952,  000 
195.747,000 
21 4 '778, 000 
155,208,  OoO 
193, 306,000 
207, 102,000 
202,  205, 000 
332,794,000 
17,766,000  297.736,000 
22, 894. 0  JO,  502  I  >72 , 090 
‘25 , 005,  OOO,  628, 692 . 000 


27, 508, 090.676, 50S.  000 
36,  878.009  6S3, 878,  OoO 
40,  582,000;711,582.  000 
49,855.000  731,355,000 
44,  799, 000' 740.  799,000 
46,53S,  0001777,  538,  000 
42, 129, 424 J69. 849, 1 19 


The  above  statement  of  the  circulation  of 
paper  currency  may  he  accepted  as  reliable,  as 
the  figures  have  been  revised  and  corrected 
from  official  records.  It  is  more  difficult, 
however,  to  give  the  exact  amount  of  specie 
in  circulation  at  any  specified  period.  This 
is  owing  mainly  to  the  fact  that  a  portion  of 
the  silver  and  gold  coin  is  aimully  melted 
and  used  in  the  trades,  and  for  other  pur¬ 
poses.  The  following  figures  are,  however, 
accepted  at  the  Philadelphia  mint,  and  in 
official  estimates,  as  being  nearly  correct : 


Estimates  of  A  mount  of  Coin  in  the  United  States 
at  Different  Periods. 


Year 

Specie  in  Cir¬ 
culation. 

Specie  in 
Banks 

184S 

$  66,000,  U0f» 

$46,000,000 

184!)  ' 

77,000.  (Wo 

43.0(0,000 

1850 

109.GOO.OOO 

45.000,000 

185.1 

13S, 000, 000 

4S.000.000 

1852 

160, 000, 000 

44, 000, 000 

1853 

180, 000,  000 

56,000,000 

18.34  j 

181,  OoO,  00{i 

60, 000,0v'0 

1859 

-  -  -  -  - 

1  ?73 

Total  in  coun- 

_ try.  _ 

$112, 000,000 
12’,  000, 000. 
154,00(',000 
186,000.000 
204.  Wo,  tOO 
236,000,000 
241.0(0.000 
275.000,000 
170.000,000 
lG7.00ii.0C0 


From  1854  to  1801  the  exports  of  specie  ex¬ 
ceeded  the  imports  nearly  $100,000,000.  This 
heavy  drain  on  our  specie  ceased  in  October, 
1801,  and  soon  thereafter  the  flow  to  the- 
United  States  commenced,  adding  about 
$90,000,000  to  the  stock  of  coin. 


MONETARY  CIRCULATION  IN  FOREIGN  COUNTRIES. 

A  comparative  statement  of  the  currency 
circulation  of  the  United  States,  with  that  of 
three  of  the  leading  European  Powers,  shows 
that  two  out  of  the  three  have  less  money  in 
circulation,  per  capita,  than  we  have.  Here  . 
are  the  figures,  based  on  a  carefully  pre¬ 
pared  paper  on  the  subject,  published  in 
January,  1S74,  in  the  Monthly  Report  of  the 
U.  S.  Bureau  of  Statistics,  pages  134  to  137  : 


o 


Circulation  in  France ,  1874. 


Irenes. 

Metallic  currency  (coin  and  bullion )  4,000,000,000 

Notes  of  the  Bank  of  France,  in  circu¬ 
lation,  Dec. 26,  1873, . _2, 807,689,025 

Total .  6,867,689,625 

Deduct  metallic  reserve  in  Bank,  Dec.' 

26,  1873 . . . . .  759,962,419 

Total  currency  in  circulation,  6,647,727,206 


Equal  in  U.  S.  gold  to  $1,209,545,441. 
Population,  37,185,700.  Circulation,  per 
capita,  $32.52. 

Circulation  in  North  Germany ,  1873. 

Thalers, 

Coin  in  hands  of  the  people .  532,435,362 

Mol  Os  in  bands  of  the  people .  253,159,142 

Gold  controlled  by  the  Government .  105,000,000 

Total  Thalers . 896,594,504 

Equal  in  U.  S.  gold  coin  to  $632,000,000. 
Population,  31,600,000.  Circulation  per 
capita,  $24.00. 

The  currency  circulation  and  population 
are  for  the  twenty-two  States  comprising 
the  North  German  Confederation.  Correct 
returns  of  the  currency  of  Germany,  since 
the  Franco-Prussian  war,  are  not  yet  pub¬ 
lished. 

Circulation  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland ,  1873. 


Gold  coin . £84,551,000 

Silver  coin . . .  15  000,000 

Bronzecoin . .  1,148,000 

Excess  of  bank  notes  over  coin  reserves,.  40.540,000 


£141,239  000 

Equal  in  U.  S.  gold  coin,  to  $686,421,540. 

Population,  32,001,004.  Circulation  per 
capita,  $21.45. 

Here  it  is  shown  that  Germany,  with  all 
her  accumulations  of  treasure,  has  a  circula¬ 
tion,  per  capita,  of  only  $20  ;  and  here,  too, 
we  have  the  fact  demonstrated  that  the 
wealthy  manufacturing  and  commercial  Uni¬ 
ted  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is 
doing  business,  without  inconvenience,  too, 
with  a  monetary  circulation  of  less  amount, 
per  capita,  than  that  of  the  United  States. 

If  additional  evidence  is  required  that  the 
currency  in  circulation  in  the  United  States 
is  fully  equal  to  the  necessities  of  legitimate 
business,  and  more  than  equal  to  the  actual 
demand,  it  is  shown  in  the  fact  that  any 
amount  ■of  money  can  be  obtained  in  New 
York  city  and  other  commercial  and  money 
centres  at  five  per  cent,  per  annum,  on  satis¬ 
factory  securities. 

It  is  further  demonstrated  that  there  is 
more  currency  in  circulation  than  there  is 
any  demand  for,  by  the  fact  that  uuder  the 
Act  of  June  20,  1874,  providing  for  the  re¬ 
demption  of  National  Bank  circulation,  and 
the  Act  of  January  14,  1875,  providing  for 
new  banks  and  Free  Banking,  the  amount  of 
circulation  retired  for  redemption  is  several 
millions  in  excess  of  the  new  issues  called 
for.  The  money  retired  comes  mainly,  too, 
from  Western  banks.  The  Controller  of  the 
Currency,  U.  S.  Treasury,  July  6,  1875, 
makes  the  following  report:  “The  whole 
amount  of  legal-tender  notes  deposited  with 
the  Treasurer,  for  the  purpose  of  retiring 
National  Bank  circulation,  since  the  passage 
of  the  Act,  (of  June  20,  1874,)  is  $25,523,057  ; 
deposits  by  banks  in  liquidation  previous  t.o 


j  that  time,  were  $3,813,675;  making  a  total 
of  $29,336,732.  Deducting  the  circulation 
redeemed  with  legal-tender  notes  and  de- 
j  stroyed,  amounting  to  $9,627,006,  there  re- 
:  mained  on  deposit  with  the  Treasurer,  (July 
1st,)  in  legal-tender  notes,  for  the  purpose  oj 
retiring  circulation ,  $19,709,666.”  The  amount 
since  that  date  has  been  increased. 

From  the  facts  here  presented,  it  is  mani¬ 
festly  evident  that  the  volume  of  currency 
now  in  circulation  in  the  United  States,  is 
amply  sufficient  for  all  legitimate  purposes, 
and  that  the  recent  financial  panic  was  not 
the  result,  even  remotely,  of  a  too  contracted 
currency. 

THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  CURKEXCT. 

II.  Is  the  Currency  of  the  country  adequate ,  in 
character ,  to  the  wants  of  legitimate  business  ? 

That  portion  of  it — and  it  embraces  nearly 
the  whole — that  is  known  as  a  depreciated 
paper  currency,  is  defective,  because  of  its 
instability.  It  lias  no  acknowledged  standard 
of  value,  on  which  investments  can  safely  be 
made,  contracts  entered  into,  or  business 
transacted.  There  are  scarcely  three  suc¬ 
cessive  days  in  the  year  in  which  the  value 
of  our  paper  currency  is  the  same.  It  is 
therefore,  unsafe  as  a  basis  for  business  trans¬ 
actions.  Bring  it  to  a  gold  basis,  and  it  wlil 
at  once  assert  and  maintain  a  standard  value, 
and  may  then  be  used  as  the  basis  of  all  le¬ 
gitimate  transactions,  however  extensive, 
and  become  a  desirable  circulating  medium, 
not  only  in  the  United  States,  but  also 
throughout  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  Mexico, 
and  generally  over  the  continent. 

A  fluctuating  currency  deprives  farmers, 
artizans,  mechanics,  laborers  and  honest 
tradesmen  of  millions  of  dollars  of  their 
earnings,  annually,  because  it  compels  them 
to  accept  a  green-back  for  a  dollar,  wlieu  in 
reality  it  is  worth  only  about  eighty-eight 
cents  to-day,  and  eighty-seven,  or  eighty- 
nine,  possibly,  to-morrow.  It  puts  millions 
of  dollars  into  tlie  pockets  of  sharpers,  be¬ 
cause  it  increases  the  opportunities  for  finan¬ 
cial  gambling  ;  and  every  change  in  its  value 
is  made  to  work  to  their  advantage.  It  weak¬ 
ens  confidence  in  the  results  of  business  trans¬ 
actions,  discourages  legitimate  enterprise  and 
retards  substantial  progress  and  prosperity. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  Congress  has  au¬ 
thorized  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
prepare  for  specie  resumption,  and  there  need 
be  no  difficulty  in  resuming  within  the  time 
indicated,  (January  1,  1879,)  unless  it  comes 
from  the  persistant  efforts  of  the  Democratic 
party  to  defeat  the  measure,  if  possible,  by 
demanding  more  irredeemable  paper  money — 
one  of  tlie  most  fatal  financial  blunders  that 
could  possibly  be  conceived.  I1  he  policy  and 
aim  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  to  re¬ 
sume  specie  payments ,  and  with  confidence 
and  co-operation  on  the  part  of  the  people  he 
can  do  so.  Over  $43,000,000  of  specie  were 
coined  during  the  last  fiscal  year — more  than 
four  times  the  amount  of  the  coinage  of  Eng¬ 
land— and  it  is  claimed  by  the  Director  of  the 
Mints^that  the  turn-out  for  next  year  will  be 
more  than  doubled. 


TAXES:  WHO  PAYS  THEM? 


,l  We  are  more  heavily  taxed  by  our  idleness,  pride  and  folly,  than  we  are  taxed  by  Government.” 

— Franklin. 


WHAT  IS  A  TAX,  AND  WHY  IS  IT  NEEDED  ? 

A  tax  is  an  assessment  for  a  specific 
amount  made  upon  property  for  a  specific 
purpose,  under  Federal  or  State  authority  ; 
or,  it  may  be  a  tax  on  incomes  or  annual 
earnings,  or  a  personal  or  poll-tax  on  each 
adult  citizen. 

Each  State  adopts  its  own  mode  of  taxa¬ 
tion,  and  the  State  tax  is  always  distinct 
from  the  Federal  tax.  The  State  may  raise 
its  necessary  revenue  from  a  tax  on  real 
estate  alone,  but  the  usual  mode  is  to  make 
up  the  requisite  amount  by  an  assessment 
on  personal  property  as  well  as  on  real  estate. 

The  Federal  Government  pursues  a  differ¬ 
ent  policy.  The  main  source  of  its  revenues 
is  the  tariff  on  imported  goods.  But  in  ex¬ 
traordinary  cases,  of  which  the  late  rebellion 
affords  an  example,  personal  property  and 
incomes  are  taxed  to  meet  a  specific  emer¬ 
gency.  But  Internal  revenue  taxes  are 
always  dropped  with  the  removal  of  the  cause 
for, their  collection. 

A  revenue  is  required  by  the  Federal  Gov¬ 
ernment  to  meet  the  demands  on  the  United 
States  Treasury  for  the  annual  interest  on 
the  public  debt,  the  expenses  of  the  army 
and  navy,  the  payment  of  pensions,  Indian, 
and  other  ordinary  expenditures,  the  whole 
amounting  to  about  $275,000,000  per  annum. 

State,  country,  and  municipal  taxes,  over 
which  the  Federal  Government  exercises  no 
control,  provide  revenues  from  which  the 
ordinary  expenditures  for  legislation,  schools, 
roads,  State  public  improvement,  and  other 
State,  county  or  municipal  expenses  are 
paid.  In  recent  years  many  of  the  States 
have  allowed  their  ordinary  public  expendi¬ 
tures  to  increase  much  more  rapidly  than 
the  increase  of  population  and  wealth.  This 
has  resulted  in  a  corresponding  increase  of 
taxation,  a  condition  of  affairs  that  should 
always  be  avoided.  It  can  now  be  overcome 
only  by  rigid  economy  in  the  public  expen¬ 
ditures  aad  submission  to  a  pretty  severe 
tax  until  the  State,  county  and  municipal 
indebtedness  is  liquidated. 

With  these  remarks  on  the  general  subject 
if  taxes  and  revenues,  the  attention  of  the 
rea  er  will  now  be  directed  more  particu¬ 
larly  to  the  present 

PO  jICY  and  scope  of  federal  taxation. 

The  policy  of  the  administration  is  to  de¬ 
rive  the  largest  portion  of  the  necessary 
revenues  from  the  tariff  on  imported  goods. 
The  estimates  for  the  fiscal  year  which  com- 

enced  June  30,  1875,  were  made  on  the 


following  basis : 

From  customs .  $170,000,000 

From  internal  revenue .  106,000,000 

From  other  sources .  17, '000, 000 

Total  estimates .  $293,000,000 


It  is  believed  now,  by  experienced  officials, 
judging  from  the  improving  condition  of  the 
country  and  the  weekly  increase  of  receipts 
since  the  estimates  were  made,  that  the  inter¬ 
nal  revenue  receipts  for  the  current  year  will 
reach  $120,000,000  or  over.  Of  this,  nearly 
$100,000,000  will  be  derived  from  spirits, 
beer,  and  tobacco  in  their  various  forms. 
The  balance  comes  from  the  tax  on  patent 
medicines,  perfumery,  matches  and  banking 
capital.  These  are  the  only  articles  subject 
to  a  Federal  tax.  And  as  showing  what 
the  Republican  party  has  accomplished  in 
the  way  of  decreasing  the  taxes  caused  by 
the  Democratic  rebellion,  it  may  be  stated 
that  while  the  Internal  revenue  receipts,  for 
the  fiscal  year  just  closed,  amounted  to $110, 
507,493.53,  and  those  for  the  current  yea,r 
will  be  about  $120,000,000,  the  internal  reve¬ 
nues  for  1866  amounted  to  three  hundred  and 
nine  million ,  two  hundred  and  twenty-six  thousand , 
eight  hundred  and.  thirteen  dollars  and  forty-two 
cents ,  exclusive  of  a  direct  income  tax,  col¬ 
lected  during  the  same  year,  amounting  to 
$1,947,754.12. 

Keeping  in  view  the  fact  that  only  about 
half  a  dozen  different  articles  are  now  sub¬ 
ject  to  a  tax,  it  will  be  interesting  to  note 
briefly  the  sources  whence  the  enormous  tax 
of  previous  years  was  derived.  From  March, 
1865,  to  July,  1866,  during  which  period 
internal  revenue  taxation  was  at  its  greatest 
height,  all  manufactures  of  every  description, 
with  a  few  unimportant  exceptions  specially 
exempted,  were  subject  to  a  tax.  A  tax  Was 
also  imposed  on  all  slaughtered  cattle,  sheep 
and  swine ;  on  the  gross  receipts  of  adver¬ 
tisements,  lotteries,  theatres,  operas,  cir¬ 
cuses,  &c. ;  of  express,  insurance  and  tele¬ 
graph  companies ;  of  canals,  steamboats, 
ships,  barges,  stage  coaches,  railroads,  &c.; 
on  dealers’  sales,  auction  sales,  and  brokers’ 
sales  of  merchandise,  stocks,  bonds,  foreign 
exchange,  gold  and  silver  bullion  and  coin; 
on  billiard  tables,  carriages,  piano-fortes,  gold 
watches,  yachts,  gold  and  silver  plate,  articles 
of  luxury  kept  for  use ;  on  bank  capital, 
circulation  and  deposits  ;  on  passports,  lega¬ 
cies  and  successions  ;  on  dividends  and'  ad¬ 
ditions  to  surplus  of  banks,  railroad,  canal, 
turnpike  and  insurance  companies  ;  on  sala¬ 
ries  of  United  States  officers  and  employes  ; 
on  the  annual  income  of  all  persons,  in  ex¬ 
cess  of  $600  per  annum  ;  on  legal  instru¬ 
ments,  such  as  deeds,  bonds,  mortgages, 
&c.  ;  on  proprietary  medicines,  perfumeries 
and  cosmetics  ;  and  on  friction  matches  and 
playing  cards.  All  persons  engaged  as  auc¬ 
tioneers,  brokers,  dealers,  peddlers,  manu¬ 
facturers,  lawyers,  physicians,  &c.,  were  re¬ 
quired  to  pay  a  special  tax  for  carrying  on 
their  business^  trade,  or  profession.  In 


snort, 


nearly  every  available  source  was 
made  to  contribute  to  the  necessities  of  the 
Government. 

ANNUAL  RECEIPTS  FROM  INTERNAL  REVENC  K 
AND  INCOME  TAX£S. 

Income  tax  lias  ceased 


rrr~ 

1  ne 


altogether. 


nue taxes  have  been  reduced  about  2-3ds  be¬ 
low  their  maximum  in  1866.  The  following 
tables  show  the  net  receipts  for  each  year  : 

Direel  Tax. 


reven 

ue  officers  are  adjusted,  is  as 

foil 

CW3 

|  YEAR. 

COST. 

YEAR. 

COST. 

I  1863. 

I  0  per  cent. 

i  1869. 

4  2-10 

per 

cent. 

i  1864. 

1  4  per  cent. 

■  1 870. 

3  5-10 

per 

cent. 

i 1865. 

j  *2  4-10  per  cent.  • 

1871. 

4  4-10 

per 

cent. 

1 1866. 

i  2  2-10  per  cent,  j 

1872. 

4  4-10 

per 

cent. 

1867. 

2  4-10  per  cent. 

1873 

4  2  10 

per 

cent. 

1S68. 

4  4-10  per  cent. 1 

1874. 

41-i0 

per 

cent. 

Year. 

Internal  Revenue- 

1862 

• 

1863  . 

1864  . 

1865  . 

1  i>66 . 

$37,640,787.95 

109.741,134.10 

209,464,215.25 

309.226,813.42 

266.027,537.43 

191,087,589.41 

158,356,460.86 

184,899.756.49 

1867  . 

1868  . 

1869 . 

1870 . 

1871 . 

143.098,153.63 

130^642.177.72 

113,729.314.14 

1872  . 

1873 . 

1874 . 

102,644,746.98 

110,507,493.53 

1875 . 

$1,795,331.73 
1,485,103.61 
'475,648.96 
1,200,573.03 
1,974,754.12 
4.200,233.70 
1,788,145.85 
765,685.61 
229,102.  SS 
580,355.37 

*  315,254.51 


Add  to  this,  allowance  or  drawbacks,  refund¬ 
ing  taxes,  cost  of  stamps,  paper,  and  dies,  and 
the  expenses  of  the  office  at  Washington  —  in 
all  about  2  per  cent,  additional  —  and  we  have 
the  total  cost  of  collecting  the  internal  reve' 
nue,  showing  an  economy  probably  without  a 
parallel.  . 

WHO  PAYS  THE  INTERNAL  REVENUE  TAX  ? 

If  a  family  uses  fifty  boxes  of  matches,  of 
ordinary  size,  in  a  year,  they  pay  fifty  cents 
in  taxes  to  support  the  Government.  If  they 
have  occasion  to  use  a  few  bottles  of  patent 
medicines  ;  or  if  the  ladies  are  disposed  to 
indulge  in  perfumery  ;  or  if  the  head  of  the 
family  is  well  to  do  and  keeps  a  hank  account, 
on  which  he  occasionally  draws  a  check,  these 
incidents  may  occasion  an  annual  expenditure 
of  fifty  cents  to  a  dollar  in  taxes.  But  this  in¬ 
cludes  the  entire  list  of  articles  taxed,  except¬ 
ing  spirits,  beer  and  tobacco  in  their  various 
forms.  But  the  latter  articles  are  not  included 
among  the  necessaries  of  life  ;  they  are  lux¬ 
uries.  Dealers  in  those  articles  not  only  add 
the  amount  of  the  tax  to  the  cost  of  their 
goods,  but  they  fix  a  profit  on  the  tax  itself, 
in  the  same  proportion  as  they  do  on  the 
original  price  for  the  article  before  the  tax  is 
added.  1  n  other  words,  the  tax  pays  the  same 
rate  of  profit  as  the  goods — and  yet  the.  con- 
The  largest  receipts  from  internal  rev-  sumption  increases.  The  deaici  lai  eiv  com- 
enue  were  collected  in  I860  ;  from  personal  ot  liie  tfx  ;  ou  .®  *! 

_  I  ond  Ihn  c-letrn  fa  opfihaiQ  Qrmotltft  it  Q  I 


Dor  the  purpose  of  showing  just  where 
the  internal  revenues  come  from,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  analysis  of  the  tax  for  1874  is 
given.  There  was  collected  from — 

Spirits . $49,444,689  85 

Tobacco .  33.242  875.02 

Fermented  liquors .  9,504,G79.72 

Banks  and  bankers .  3,887,100  07 

Penalties,  etc .  304,210.84 

Adhesive  stampsf .  0,136,844.04 

Balances:}:  . .  704,830.14 


102,044,740.9s 


income  the  largest  collection  was  in  1807. 

From  these  sources  combined  the  largest 
annual  collection,  as  will  be  seen,  was  made 
in  1800,  and  amounted  to  $311,174,507.74. 

Since  July,  1866,  taxes  have  been  grad¬ 
ually  reduced  until  the  amount  of  taxes 
repealed  now  reaches  an  aggregate  of  two 
hundred  million  dollars  per  annum,  a  reduc¬ 
tion  of  2-3ds  of  the  entire  tax  of  former  years. 

The  internal  revenue  taxes,  as  stated,  have  j  persistant  "efforts  made  ~bv  Great  Britaf 
been  removed  trorn  all  articles  excepting  secure  a  reduction  of  our  tariff,  and  of 
spirits,  beer,  tobacco,  patent  medicines,  per¬ 
fumery,  matches,  and  banking  capital  ;  and 
the  revenues  from  these  sources  are  collected 
mainly  by  stamps,  which  are  paid  for  on 
delivery,  thus  materially  reducing  the  cost 
of  collecting  the  internal  revenues. 

The  percentage  cost  of  assessing  aud  col¬ 
lecting  the  revenues — adhesive  stamps  ex- 


and  the  slave  to  artificial  appetite  pays  it  all. 

WHO  PAYS  THE  CUSTOMS  REVENUE  TAX  ? 

Free  Traders  attempt  to  deceieve  the  peo¬ 
ple  by  making  them  believe  the  tariff  of  du¬ 
ties  imposed  on  imported  goods  is,  in  all 
cases,  a  tax  on  the  consumers  of  those  goods. 
It  is  not  so.  In  nine  cases  out  of  ten  the 
duties  are  wholly  a  tax  upon  the  foreign  pro¬ 
ducer;  and  lie  so  understands  it.  Hence  the 

ta$i  to 
Can¬ 
ada  to  obtain  a  free-trade  reciprocity  with 
the  United  States.  It  is  the  producer,  nol 
the  consumer,  who  pays  the  duties:  Maine 
and  Canada  each  send  a  cargo'of  potatoes  to 
Boston  or  New  York.  They  each  sell  out  at 
$1.00  per  bushel.  Maine  receives  the  fni! 
amount  of  the  sale,  while  Canada  leaves  fir- 
teen  cents  out  of  each  dollar,  as  a  duty  ou 


cep  Led — from  lbOo  to  1874,  inclusive,  as  do-  !  goods.  It  is  the  same  with  nine-tenth 

of  all  the  foreign  goods  brought  to  United 
Slates  markets.  The  duties  are  paid  by  the  pro¬ 
ducers,  for  the  privilege  of  using  our  markets.  It 
is  as  direct  a  tax  upon  him  as  the  charges  for 
freight,  insurance  and  commissions.  The 
Customs  revenues  amount  to  about  $175,000,- 
000  a  year,  of  which  not  less  than  $125,000,- 
000  are  paid  by  those,  outside  of  the  Union , 
who  use  our  markets  for  their  own  advantage. 


dueed  from  the  expenses  allowed  by  tbe  5tli 
Auditor,  bv  whom  the  accounts  of  internal 

'Balances  due  in  iS71.  collected  in  1»72  and  1873, 
and  covered  iulo  the  U.  S.  Treasury  in  the  latter 
year. 

t  Includes  stamps  on  banli  checks,  &c.,  per¬ 
fumery,  cosmetics,  patent  medicines,  matches,  Ac., 
kno  eri  as  proprietory  stamps. 

$  Balances  from  articles  and  occupations  formerly 
taxed,  but  covr  exempt. 


